


all of the perfect things that i doubt

by deandratb



Category: One Day at a Time (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Episode: s03e13 Ghosts, F/M, Gen, Slow Dancing, that is the beauty of these two, this can be shippy if you ship them or a bffs fic if you don't
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 12:13:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17766575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deandratb/pseuds/deandratb
Summary: Prompt fic; Avery and Max never arrive at the wedding...but Penelope and Schneider still find their way to the dance floor.





	all of the perfect things that i doubt

**Author's Note:**

> Anonymous prompt: **S3 finale AU without Avery where Schneider asks Penelope to dance**
> 
> Beginning portion in italics is taken directly from the episode.

_Penelope waved Schneider over to her table, aiming a sad face at him that didn’t quite reach the level of his. “Are you okay?”_

_He hunched over the table a little. “Oh, no, I'm all kinds of messed up. You?”_

_“Seeing that father-daughter dance really made me happy, but if one more person tells me, ‘You'll find someone,’ I'm setting off the sprinklers, and we're gonna see who has extensions real quick.”_

_Nudging Schneider with her elbow got him to laugh a little, and she was still smiling as his faded._

_He sighed. “I can't get over Avery. I had a magical angel woman who wanted a future with me, and I screwed it up.”_

_“Don't be so hard on yourself.”_

_“I'm sorry. A wedding probably isn't the best place for me right now.”_

_“Well, I'm glad you came. Otherwise, I'd be the only single loser here, so...”_

Penelope sipped her drink and offered Schneider her most winning smile, still hoping she could draw him out of his funk. “So, the supermodel. Not even a little spark?”

“No.” He hung his head. “I think I’m over meaningless attraction, Pen. After Avery...I don’t know, what if she was my best chance at a real future with someone?”

“She’s the first person you’ve tried to have an actual relationship with,” Penelope pointed out. “It’s a little soon to decide it’s all over for you.”

She glanced at the dance floor, where the Chicken Dance seemed like it might never end. “But the part where you want more than just a fling? That could be a good thing, Schneider. It’s about time you opened yourself up to dating like an adult--I would hate to see you throw that progress away just because you’re hurting.”

Schneider sighed again. “Eh, well. Enough about me. You’re at Victor’s wedding, that’s gotta be weird.”

“You are not wrong.” Penelope couldn’t help but laugh when she caught her mother stealing the dance floor with her flapping arms, Dr. B flapping along from a distance.

“Then again,” she added, “what isn’t weird lately?”

“Good point.”

The manic music finally died down, gliding into a slow song as couples pulled each other close. Her  _Mami_ found a stray man to pair off with, leaving Dr. Berkowitz standing alone before other dancers blocked them from Penelope’s view.

“I am happy for Victor,” she assured Schneider, her smile fading. “But of all the times not to have a date...”

“I hear ya. Sorry about Mateo, by the way. With everything, I don’t think I said that yet.”

“It’s fine.” Penelope shrugged. “He deserved somebody who was a really good fit.”

“So do you.”

Schneider smiled at her. “And in the meantime, how about this wedding’s two single losers cut a rug?”

“Huh?” .

“We shouldn’t be stuck moping here all night.” He stood, reaching for her hand. “Let’s dance, Pen.”

His grin caught her off guard. Rapidly shifting moods worried her these days just as much as seeing Schneider in a funk. His relapse had shaken their friendship, and they were still slowly building it back up again.

But compared to being depressed over Avery, at least at the moment he was smiling. That was reason enough for Penelope to follow him to the dance floor and rest one hand on his shoulder while he kept hold of the other.

“You look really nice,” Schneider said as they began to move. 

“Thanks, Schneider. I guess that’s something, at least.”

“What do you mean?”

She caught one of Victor’s cousins watching her and shook her head. “Oh, you know. Everybody here is ready to throw me a pity party. And I’m fine!”

He blinked. “Of course you are, Penelope. You’re rocking at this whole life thing.”

“It’s just so frustrating. I could find someone in a heartbeat. I have absolutely no trouble **finding**  someone.”

“Well, if I know that’s true, and you know that’s true...then why is it bothering you so much?” 

Schneider shifted a little closer as they turned in a slow circle, and she closed her eyes, trying to relax. “I don’t know. It’s just bugging me.”

“Okay.” 

He was quiet after that, and she focused on the feel of his hand in hers, the warmth of his fingers pressing into her waist. It was strange, wasn’t it, that they’d never danced together like this before?

Sure, he’d joined her for a couple of dances at Elena’s  _quinces_ , mostly because he was too cheerful about it for her to tell him no without feeling like a total jerk. But those had been fast songs, and friendly dances. There was absolutely no touching involved.

And at the school dance they’d both chaperoned, he’d danced with her  _Mami_ after he and Nikki broke up, the two of them salsaing whether the music called for it or not. It had made her smile even while her mind was worrying over Max’s words. But because there was Max, it would never have occurred to her to dance with Schneider.

What a difference a year made.

“I’m not sure I can keep a man,” Penelope blurted out, making Schneider’s footsteps falter for a second before he glided her back into a waltz.

“What are you talking about?”

“All those people telling me I’ll find someone someday, I know they don’t know what they’re talking about. I’m really good at finding someone. And they’re all great guys.”

“Yeah, I remember.” Schneider’s face got that slightly starstruck look that returned whenever he thought about Max, and she rolled her eyes.

“So, you know...I can get a man. I’m just not so good at keeping them. No matter how great they are on paper, I can’t make it work. A relationship isn’t everything--it’s not even at the top of my bucket list right now. But it really sucks anyway, not being good at them.”

He stopped dancing, stepping back with her hand still gripped in his. “Hey, hey. Who says you’re not good at relationships?”

Penelope glanced over her shoulder. “Well,  _Tia_  Pity over there, for starters. And all the other people who look at me and see a failure just because my marriage didn’t work out.”

“Your marriage ending was  **not**  your fault,” Schneider insisted, his voice low among the crowd. “You’re not responsible for Victor’s choices, Penelope. You had kids to think about.”

“And I didn’t fight for Max,” she continued, as though he hadn’t spoken. “I gave Mateo so little of my attention we were barely dating even while we were dating. I know it takes two people to make a relationship work, but I’m not blameless. Those women clicking their tongues sympathetically at me tonight, they have a point. I might never find somebody to spend my life with.”

He shook his head and pulled her close. “Come here.” 

Once she was dancing with him again, her face almost resting against his chest, Schneider continued.

“You’re talking to the guy who ruined the only good thing he had going for him,” he said. “I’m officially an expert on being bad at relationships--and I’ve only had one, so you have to admit that’s impressive.”

“Schneider...”

Penelope tipped her head up to look at him, their eyes meeting as the song ended.

He leaned back, letting go of her hand. “Thanks for the dance.”

She stepped forward, closing in on his space again. “Where do you think you’re going? We’re not finished.”

Schneider’s forehead wrinkled to match his confused tone. “We’re not?”

“No, dummy. Who else am I gonna dance with if you leave me stranded here?”

Still bewildered, he let Penelope’s fingers wrap around his, his other hand resting on her hip this time. The new music was slower; they swayed along with it while she bit her bottom lip and chose her next words carefully.

“What you just said about Avery, that’s crap.”

“Penelope--”

“I mean it. You were going through a hard time, harder than you have in years. You don’t have a special talent for ruining relationships just because that one ended. Because in case you hadn’t noticed, this right here? Is a relationship too. Not like you and Avery, but still going strong after years of up and downs. And so are your relationships with my Mami, and Elena and Alex. So stop telling yourself she was the only good thing, okay? It’s not true.”

His hand squeezed hers while she settled against him, deciding the time for formalities was over.

“You’re right,” Schneider murmured. “I’m sorry. You and your family...you guys are the  **best**  thing. You always have been. It’s just harder now.”

“What is?”

He was silent for so long, she thought he might not answer the question.

“Hoping,” Schneider finally said, resting his cheek against the top of her head.

“Right.” She nodded, curls tickling his face. “I get that. But, Schneider?”

“Yeah?”

“We were there, through all of it. We’re still here. If it hurts too much to hope yet, maybe try trusting that instead. You have us.”

She smiled against his lapel. “And if we can make it through the worst with you, then there’s totally a woman out there who could too. One just as special as Avery. You’ll find her.”

“Well, if that’s true, then you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“Because you’ll be too busy to keep barging in at all hours?” She teased.

“No,” he replied, not joking at all. “Because if there really is someone out there for me, then you’re definitely going to find love again, Penelope. The kind that lasts.”

Schneider’s hands slid to the small of her back as the second song became a third, neither of them moving to end the dance.

“You think so, huh?”

“I know it,” he insisted, his eyes clearing for the first time all night. “It might not be at the top of your list, but it’ll happen. Nobody deserves it more than you.”

Penelope was still trying to figure out what to say to that when Schneider dipped her, grinning before he pulled her back into him and led her into a salsa.

She saw her  _Mami_  tango by with Dr. Berkowitz, no more concerned than Schneider about how they stood out from the crowd, and gave in.

It was her ex-husband’s wedding, after all. She knew before she came that she wouldn’t be having a fabulous time. She couldn’t even make his friends and family stop looking at her like she was doomed to die alone.

But no matter what they thought, she  **wasn’t** alone.

Schneider was throwing goofy flourishes into his dance moves, singing off-key along with the music, his hands warm where they gripped her hips.

Maybe they were both bad at relationships. Maybe they would both be single for the next thirty years.

Whatever the future held, Penelope had better things to do than worry about it right then.

She would rather salsa.

**Author's Note:**

> Title borrowed from "I'll Be Good" by Jaymes Young.


End file.
